LETTER: Leaders should be held more accountable for actions that cost taxpayers

The main headlines in the news for the Detroit area is former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his pal Bobby Ferguson were convicted for corruption and racketeering. Kilpatrick with his gangster hubristic method of governing has left the city of Detroit in disarray and with a long-term exacerbated financial crisis. This bankruptcy will have an immense impact on thousands of Detroiters and those who have pensions with the city of Detroit like my Grandpa Olmstead who is 88, a Korean War Vet and who had served the city faithfully for more than forty years.

Kwame has wasted hundreds of millions of hard-earned taxpayers' dollars by his fraudulent contracts which could have been well-spent on education and public safety. Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds sentenced Kilpatrick to 28 years and Ferguson received only 21.

Only a few days after their sentencing Kevin Papuga, 23, from White Lake (who had no criminal history) was sentenced to a maximum of 50 years for an armed robbery jewelry heist in which only a few thousand dollars was stolen. Kevin's choices and dangerous criminal actions compared to Kilpatrick and Ferguson will impact only a handful of people yet his prison sentence could cost taxpayers millions.

The triangle principle teaches that the higher you are in a leadership position the greater number of individuals are impacted by your choices and actions. Thus leadership should be held to a greater code of conduct and responsibility. In light of the recent rash in political corruption with our elected officials, judges should enforce a harsher punishment to those in office who are convicted of crimes of fraud against the citizens they were appointed and entrusted to serve. As one business person said, "What leadership does in moderation followers do to excess."

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RON SANDISON
Rochester Hills

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